Agenda and draft minutes

The Chair welcomed everyone to the sixth Board meeting and introductions were made.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor E Scott and J Allen, A Harhoff, A Kerr, I Geldard and A Strickland.

There were no declarations of interest.

The minutes of the meeting held on 3 October 2024 were agreed as a correct record.

G Wood gave an update on the MHCLG (Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government) programme guidance. The submission date was still pending but a prospectus and technical guidance was to be released in the New Year which would establish a timeline for the programme.  MPs including A Strickland had received a briefing from the Minister on the shape of the programme going forward and key points which were expected. The board was reassured that the prospectus would not take out any elements of the areas which had already been worked on so no work would be wasted.  It would instead create additional areas of influence and opportunity which would bring broader priorities forward.

He clarified that the £200,000 capacity funding which had been received was not to be used as a route to bring elements of the programme forward.  However, this was to be utilised for the design and feasibility of the programme but not investment activity. 

He noted that it was a little frustrating that clarity had not been given on how to move forward but was relieved that the allocation remained in place following the budget statement from the new government. The new prospectus and broad principles would give the opportunity to continue the core design so the grant fund mechanism would not be lost and the work would continue. 

G Wood advised that work to invite business representatives to become members of the board was ongoing.   He recommended that these invitations should wait until the new prospectus and technical guidance was released to shed light on how to work with businesses and clarify what business influence was required to improve the programme. This information would help encourage businesses to get involved. 

A Boddy suggested that comms should be circulated to stakeholders and organisations who were integral to the programme to inform them of the delay and reassure them that work was still progressing well. K Monaghan to action.

G Wood stated that Spennymoor’s Christmas market would provide an opportunity to provide comms on the progress to date regarding the programme and seek views from young people. 

K Monaghan informed the board that there would be various activities at the Christmas market including an ice rink in the town centre along with a giant snow globe which would be a great opportunity for photos.  He added that the Christmas market had been opened to various businesses to occupy stalls to sell jams, chutneys, cakes, gifts and crafts.  He confirmed that market fees had been waivered for Spennymoor businesses, Town Brass band and other local bands would play throughout the event.  It was suggested to contact local schools to see if children and young people would join the choir.

G Wood reiterated that comms would go out in advance with a wrap around message to support the Christmas market and say thank you to everyone who had provided support and who had been involved with the engagement work.

There was capacity to monitor the footfall of the event  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

The Board received a report of Director of Regeneration, Economy and Growth which provided a progress update of the development of schemes to be taken forward under the Long-Term Plan for Towns Programme (for copy see file of minutes).

G Wood noted that the report gave an update on where they were with the programme.  K Monaghan still attended the three working groups which continued to meet on a regular basis to feed into the draft investment plan and look at investment to come forward in the town.

Resolved:

i)               That the continued progress with LTPT programme development be noted.

ii)             That a virtual board meeting would be held following receipt of the amended prospectus from central government be agreed.

K Monaghan gave an update on the Spennymoor Youth working group which had been established to work with young people.  The young people had been tasked to name their group.  They opted for Spennymoor Youth Voice.  Responses given by children and young people during the consultation work which had taken place throughout April and May needed to be expanded upon to highlight exactly what they were interested in seeing within Spennymoor. Young people had expressed an interest to see activities like yoga, volleyball and silent disco’s in Spennymoor along with heritage activities – within Spennymoor Gala.  Another questionnaire had been developed to further drill down their requests. This was to be explored at the next Spennymoor Youth Voice meeting on 29 January 2025.  It would also be rolled out at further meetings in schools and local youth centres to understand more.  He showed the board the types of questions which would be asked and requested agreement from the Board to start asking these additional questions in the new year.

J Anson stated that this work was to try to break down barriers in engaging with young people and potentially encourage them to attend youth clubs and safe spaces instead of congregating in the marketplace to provide them with a safer environment to utilize.

Councillor L Maddison queried how engagement was to be carried out with young people who did not want to be engaged with.

K Monaghan responded that he had been liaising with the youth workers from the Spennymoor Youth Centre around how to promote activities to young people and it was found that attendance at the centre was down to zero.  It had been suggested that the Spennymoor Youth Voice meetings could be held at the centre.  He acknowledged the fact that young people could not be forced into engagement but also with the Anti-Social Officer they would try to succeed. He responded to B Graham that he already liaised with the Outreach worker at Middlestone moor as part of this work and engaged young people in the streets. The youth council had offered to meet with the Spennymoor Youth Council to get different projects up and running.

D Stone admitted it was a challenge to keep a regular tally on attendance at various youth centres.  It was important to keep communications open and suggested potentially creating a Spennymoor Youth Voice App as this generation took notice of items of interest that flashed up on their phones.  It would produce a multiplier effect if one young person downloaded the app that would then encourage their friends to do the same.

G Wood commented that this would start to formulate what to do next year to roll out the programme to different generations and use the capacity to galvanize and embed the work with young people.

D Stone reiterated that most young people were nice but they were given bad press.  He stressed that engagement was required for direct access to take them away from the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

There was no further business discussed.

Resolved:

i)               Future meetings to be held on a quarterly basis.

ii)              A meeting to be held in February 2025 at Livin’.